Chewing gum is basally constructed by using three components of (1) a gum base which is an insoluble component for serving as a base for chewing, (2) sugars which are soluble components for constructing a body and supplies a sweet taste, and (3) a flavor which characterizes a product thereof.
When the chewing gum is chewed, the sugars of (2) gradually dissolve in saliva in the mouth to release the sweet taste, however an ordinary gum elutes almost all of them after about five minutes, so that the sweet taste is lost thereafter, resulting in the state of so-called taste.
When a non-sugar strong sweetening substance having a tailing property in taste such as stevioside, aspartame and the like is used in addition to the sugars such as sugar, glucose, corn syrup and the like which are generally used, expression of the sweet taste is more or less extended, however, they are ultimately water soluble substances, so that there is a limitation in continuity.
On the other hand, the flavor of (3) has various types for using in the chewing gum, any one of which is an oily flavor which requires a tasty substance such as water soluble sweeteners or the like as a carrier for the taste for expressing the flavor in the mouth, and the sense of the flavor disappears simultaneously with completion of elution of them.
Therefore, in order to maintain the flavor and taste (which generally indicates the sense of the sweet taste, the sour taste, the salty taste, the nice taste, and the flavor) in the chewing gum, it is necessary to restrict the elution of such tasty substances and the flavor, especially the sweeter to be as slow as possible.
Conventional processed materials of sweeteners, flavors and the like directing to the maintenance of the flavor and taste are based on a method in which coating is done with a water soluble or insoluble substance, one in which adsorption to a porous carrier is done, one in which a substance for inhibiting dissolution is used and the like, among which the most effective for maintaining the flavor and taste is one in which coating is done with an insoluble substance. Concretely, in many cases, those which are used as a base material of the chewing gum or synthetic polymers other than the above are utilized, however, in fact, such drawbacks are listed that (1) processing is difficult to give an insufficient coating, (2) constituent components are too rigid to release the flavor and taste substance, (3) there is a sense of incompatibility from a viewpoint of feeling, (4) there is an incompatible taste, (5) there is a problem from a viewpoint of food hygiene and the like, so that one having sufficient quality has never been obtained.